Why Passing Tests Are Sometimes the Most Dangerous Thing in Your Pipeline
Automated tests can create a false sense of security in software deployment pipelines. While passing tests indicate that the system matches expectations, they may not reflect current production realities due to changes in external services. This disconnect, known as mock drift, can lead to production incidents despite a green pipeline.
- ▪Passing tests in a CI pipeline can lead to overconfidence in the system's stability.
- ▪Tests may pass even when they are validating outdated expectations due to changes in external services.
- ▪Mock drift occurs when tests rely on outdated mocks that do not reflect current service behavior.
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try { if(localStorage) { let currentUser = localStorage.getItem('current_user'); if (currentUser) { currentUser = JSON.parse(currentUser); if (currentUser.id === 3452335) { document.getElementById('article-show-container').classList.add('current-user-is-article-author'); } } } } catch (e) { console.error(e); } Sophie Lane Posted on May 20 Why Passing Tests Are Sometimes the Most Dangerous Thing in Your Pipeline #testing #cicd #devops #productivity There is a specific kind of confidence that comes from watching a CI pipeline run green. You pushed a change, the tests ran, everything passed, and now you are deploying to production feeling reasonably certain that nothing broke. That confidence is earned most of the time. And sometimes it is the most expensive thing in your entire pipeline.
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